Well folks, I got me a Nikon D70..the upper limit of what I cannot afford and a couple of "other brand" lenses to go with the Nikkor one that came with the body. This is so neat and I am going through birth pains without any epidural learning the system to get me back as much as possible to filmlike photography. I have no reason to post this but to be happy with me for the moment..the bill has yet to come to my mail box. Yikes! Now, it is time to see if I actually have the stuff to make real use of more options and control. ALMOST PRIVATE EXPRESSION: On a sort of sad note, I went to an auction today where an older gentleman and old friend was closing out his portrait studio. He never went digital and was ready to retire anyway. That was a bit sad but most was sold at reasonable prices. There were even folks there getting light stands, studio lights, etc. that I can't use and can't afford even at auction. Lots of old Bronica stuff and mid-format cameras and accessories were there. Amazing to see all the stuff, props and backgrounds included needed for that business. Hello old friend and hello with joy to your retirement.

good for You Tom....spoil Yourself...and...enjoy ;]

Another Digital Nikonian is born! Congrats!

Yippppeeeeee! huge congrats, Tom!!! Have loads of fun!!! and hey, don't worry about the bill. ya only live once, right!!!! :) you're gonna have to post some pics for us when you start experimenting!!!! how sad for your friend who was retiring. i would have loved to have seen all those cams, lights, and accessories at the auction. take care and let's see your stuff!!! :)

Good for you! Enjoy!

sniff Grrrr chokes back jealous rage (",)

I envy you.. :)Hope to have my D70 in the next 4 to six weeks. Enjoy

Great news Tom!!! I know you will enjoy this camera. There are 4 of us that try and take a photo trip once a month. 2 of our group use the D70 ( I use the DRebel). They really love their cameras. Please hurray up and post some shots with it. One bit of advise, always shoot in RAW. It took me a month of shooting jpegs before I saw the advantages of shooting RAW.

Congrats on the new camera and an Amen to RAW! TMG

have fun and joy with your new toy. !!!!!!! #:O) !!!!!!!

JordyArt, TMgraphics and randyrives, First, Jordy, I have been looking and saving(yikes, that is not like me) for a year now and spent more than I really can afford. I guess it is like seeing a piece of artwork you simply cannot resist. This is the least expensive of the Nikkon SLR but still costly. I got my through Hunts Photo. I wish you the same thrill I have with whatever SLR you wind up with. Still, it is the photographer behind the image...the camera will not make up for that and I have a lot, a lot, a lot to learn there. Other folks mentioned: RAW required me to download an update to get the Camera Raw plugin that would work with Nikon/Photoshop. I wonder, having looked for good tuts, what is the best place to start in "correction". I suspect that would be white balance then highlights, etc. I really don't know and the tuts I have found on google don't really answer that. I will post an image when there is an image worth posting. I am more selective the last few months than before when first getting into photoraphy. Blessing and Peace to all. Tom.

My workflow with Raw files in Photoshop CS is: 1) Color Balance 2) Exposure 3) Shadows/Contrast 4) Saturation 5) Sharpness Then with the converted file I work in 16bit mode in CS for Levels/Curves, and maybe some Unsharp Masking.

Get a book called Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS by Bruce Fraser, (Industrial Strength Production Techniques). This will tell you all and then some about how to tinker with RAW files!

If you do not have Photoshop CS you should think seriously about upgrading. The RAW inporter is ok but CS gives you alot more toys!

TMG

Almost forgot.... To really get the best out of your camera RAW and Photoshop CS, buy one of these color cards, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=325035&is=REG Then download this script, http://fors.net/scripts/ACR-Calibrator/ and follow the directions on its usage. This will use a RAW image of the color card to calibrate Photoshop CS's settings to get just about perfect color. TMG

Message edited on: 02/21/2005 17:11

I do have Photoshop CS but had to download the upgrade Camera Raw plugin, vs 2.4. (available at Adobe.com) That is free for CS but I don't know for other versions. I am just into learning PS but at least learned enough to look for upgrades when the first raw would not open. Thanks for the info. Very, very appreciatred. Tom.

Good point on colour setup, but take the trouble to get your monitor set as near right as you can. (It should be the first step in any set of instructions for this.) If I recall right, "Brightness" should be used to set the black level, and then "Contrast" to get a good white. (It then gets complicated, but I'm sure a lot of folks who post to galleries, here and elsewhere, aren't even getting that most basic setting right.)